Water woe in Siliguri

Siliguri, July 20: Over 35,000 people in five wards of Siliguri Municipal Corporation are battling water supply shortage for the last three-four days after new pump installed last month broke down.

At least two of the five wards have not got water since Friday.

Last month, over 50,000 people in nine wards had to spend around 20 days without steady water supply as the pump in Pareshnagar stopped working.

A new pump was eventually installed but that malfunctioned, causing the current situation.

In wards 39, 40, 41 there has been no water since Friday. In wards 42 and 43, the supply is very little.

“For the past three-four days the supply was erratic and it has completely stopped in two-three wards for the past couple of days,” Debshankar Saha, councillor of ward 39, said today. “No arrangements were made to keep a pump on standby at the pump house.”

Dilip Singh, councillor of ward 42, said: “We don’t know what the SMC and the PHE are doing. We will meet the SMC commissioner soon.”

PHE engineers posted in Siliguri refused comment.

Ward 41 councillor Atul Das said: “For the past three-four days, the supply has almost stopped. Today, my ward got a trickle for only an hour.”

Deb said the PHE department has been asked to speak to the company that had supplied the pump.

“The new machine was installed about a month ago. We have asked the PHE and the civic authorities to inform the company that had supplied the machine. They should be asked to sent experts from Ahmedabad (from where the machine was bought) to repair it,” he said.